It’s been a busy summer and mostly not for good reasons. My mum’s been in hospital for over a month. She has dementia (among other things) and, after a horribly stressful time, she should be moving into a care home very soon. It hasn’t felt like summer at all as, apart from work, I’ve been mostly indoors and our garden and allotment have been badly neglected.

My hawthorn too has been ignored for several weeks. I missed the link window for July, didn’t even manage a post in August, and now I’ve missed the window yet again*. But I popped out to take some photos this morning and was very pleased to see my tree and its hedgerow starting to look autumnal and fruity.

This is my diary of the wildlife where I live in Oxfordshire, and sometimes the places I visit. I am a 14 year old young naturalist with a passion for British wildlife, especially Badgers and Hares. I have been blogging since May 2013 and you can read my old blog posts at www.appletonwildlifediary.blogspot.co.uk